murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood
murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood
At 11.30 Nagasawa was ready to give up. "Sorry I dragged you around for nothing," he said. "No problem," I said. "It was worth it to me just to see you have your off days sometimes, too." "Maybe once a year," he admitted. In fact, I didn't care about getting laid any more. Wandering around Shinjuku on a noisy Saturday night, observing the mysterious energy created by a mixture of sex and alcohol, I began to feel that my own desire was a puny thing. "What are you going to do now, Watanabe?" "Maybe go to an all-nighter," I said. "I haven't seen a film in ages." "I'll be going to Hatsumi's then," said Nagasawa. "Do you mind?" "No way," I said. "Why should I mind?" "If you'd like, I could introduce you to a girl who'd let you spend the night." "Nah, I really am in the mood for a film." "Sorry," said Nagasawa. "I'll make it up to you some time." And he disappeared into the crowd. I went into a fast food place for a cheeseburger and some coffee to kill the buzz, then went to see The Graduate in an old rep house. I didn't think it was all that good, but I didn't have anything better to do, so I stayed and watched it again. Emerging from the cinema at four in the morning, I wandered along the chilly streets of Shinjuku, thinking. When I tired of walking, I went to an all-night café and waited with a book and a cup of coffee for the morning trains to start. Before long, the place became crowded with people who, like me, were waiting for those first trains. A waiter came to ask me apologetically if I would mind sharing my table. I said it would be all right. It didn't matter to me who sat across from me: I was just reading a book. My companions at the table turned out to be two girls. They looked about my age. Neither of them was a knockout, but they weren't bad. Both were reserved in the way they dressed and made up: they were 98
definitely not the type to be wandering around Shinjuku at five in the morning. I guessed they had just happened to miss the last train. They seemed relieved to sit with me: I was neatly dressed, had shaved in the evening, and to cap it all I was absorbed in Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain. One of the girls was on the large side. She wore a grey parka and white jeans, carried a large vinyl pocketbook, and had large, shellshaped earrings. Her friend was a small girl with glasses. She wore a blue cardigan over a checked shirt and had a turquoise ring. The smaller one had a habit of taking off her glasses and pressing her eyes with her fingertips. Both girls ordered cafe au lait and cake, which it took them some time to consume as they carried on what seemed like a serious discussion in hushed tones. The large girl tilted her head several times, while the small one shook hers just as often. I couldn't make out what they were saying because of the loud stereo playing Marvin Gaye or the Bee Gees or something, but it seemed the small girl was angry or upset and the large girl was trying to comfort her. I alternated passages of my book with glances in their direction. Clutching her shoulder bag to her breast, the smaller girl went to the ladies', at which point her companion spoke to me. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I wonder if you might know of ally bars in the neighbourhood that would still be serving drinks?" Taken off guard, I set my book aside and asked, "After five o'clock in the morning?" "Yes ... "If you ask me, at 5.20 in the morning, most people are on their way home to get sober and go to bed." "Yes, I realize that," she said, a bit embarrassed, "but my friend says she has to have a drink. It's kind of important." "There's probably nothing much you can do but go home and have a drink." "But I have to catch a 7.30 train to Nagano." 99
- Page 48 and 49: trying to go on, but had come up ag
- Page 50 and 51: I picked up my clothes and dressed.
- Page 52 and 53: at the end I added: Waiting for you
- Page 54 and 55: etter. As you say, this is probably
- Page 56 and 57: Maybe this firefly was on the verge
- Page 58 and 59: During the summer holidays the univ
- Page 60 and 61: dust covered his desk and radio. Hi
- Page 62 and 63: she said. "I had a perm this summer
- Page 64 and 65: omantic company? New women in far-o
- Page 66 and 67: lecture. When it was over I went to
- Page 68 and 69: Watanabe, I have this feeling like,
- Page 70 and 71: problems far more urgent and releva
- Page 72 and 73: ain." "Shouldn't you go home and ge
- Page 74 and 75: expensive school trips. For instanc
- Page 76 and 77: esting on her lap. "That was the pr
- Page 78 and 79: you." "I'd like that," I said. Mido
- Page 80 and 81: the shutter and stepped a few paces
- Page 82 and 83: "Thanks," I said. It suddenly dawne
- Page 84 and 85: I nodded, swallowing a mouthful of
- Page 86 and 87: "You're very clear about what you l
- Page 88 and 89: "I'd go and have a look around at l
- Page 90 and 91: unning away." "Even if this place b
- Page 92 and 93: "It's true. Don't you think I'm ter
- Page 94 and 95: different from other people's. I'm
- Page 96 and 97: call," I said. 'As long as lunch is
- Page 100 and 101: "So find a vending machine and a ni
- Page 102 and 103: the events had undoubtedly happened
- Page 104 and 105: this time I am very, very calm. Cle
- Page 106 and 107: We eat freshly picked fruits and ve
- Page 108 and 109: to the Ami Hostel. A woman receptio
- Page 110 and 111: still taste my morning coffee. By t
- Page 112 and 113: PRIVATE NO TRESPASSING. A few clues
- Page 114 and 115: merely a nice person but whose nice
- Page 116 and 117: my question. "The first thing you o
- Page 118 and 119: "What should I do, then? Give me an
- Page 120 and 121: I nodded. "I think the three of us
- Page 122 and 123: we can ask a staff member to buy fo
- Page 124 and 125: "I'm sure I'll be fine." "So, that
- Page 126 and 127: With Naoko gone, I went to sleep on
- Page 128 and 129: weightlessness on the secretion of
- Page 130 and 131: "It's lovely, though," said Naoko.
- Page 132 and 133: never plays it unless I request it.
- Page 134 and 135: laughing. "How many girls has he sl
- Page 136 and 137: "I couldn't get wet," she said in a
- Page 138 and 139: Reiko sat alone on the carpet, play
- Page 140 and 141: She picked up the basketball again,
- Page 142 and 143: it in hot water, taking a few days
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definitely not the type to be wandering around Shinjuku at five in the<br />
morning. I guessed they had just happened to miss the last train. They<br />
seemed relieved to sit with me: I was neatly dressed, had shaved in the<br />
evening, and to cap it all I was absorbed in Thomas Mann's The Magic<br />
Mountain.<br />
One of the girls was on the large side. She wore a grey parka and<br />
white jeans, carried a large vinyl pocketbook, and had large, shellshaped<br />
earrings. Her friend was a small girl with glasses. She wore a<br />
blue cardigan over a checked shirt and had a turquoise ring. The<br />
smaller one had a habit of taking off her glasses and pressing her eyes<br />
with her fingertips.<br />
Both girls ordered cafe au lait and cake, which it took them some time<br />
to consume as they carried on what seemed like a serious discussion in<br />
hushed tones. The large girl tilted her head several times, while the<br />
small one shook hers just as often. I couldn't make out what they were<br />
saying because of the loud stereo playing Marvin Gaye or the Bee<br />
Gees or something, but it seemed the small girl was angry or upset and<br />
the large girl was trying to comfort her. I alternated passages of my<br />
book with glances in their direction.<br />
Clutching her shoulder bag to her breast, the smaller girl went to the<br />
ladies', at which point her companion spoke to me.<br />
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I wonder if you might know of ally bars<br />
in the neighbourhood that would still be serving drinks?"<br />
Taken off guard, I set my book aside and asked, "After five o'clock in<br />
the morning?"<br />
"Yes ... "If you ask me, at 5.20 in the morning, most people are on<br />
their way home to get sober and go to bed."<br />
"Yes, I realize that," she said, a bit embarrassed, "but my friend says<br />
she has to have a drink. It's kind of important."<br />
"There's probably nothing much you can do but go home and have a<br />
drink."<br />
"But I have to catch a 7.30 train to Nagano."<br />
99
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